In certain aspects the invention relates to the generation of sounds using the beep function of a PC or other computer forming part of an automated teller machine (ATM) or other service apparatus that comprises a PC or other computer sealed or encased within an outer casing that restricts or muffles sounds produced by a beeper on the motherboard of the PC or other computer.
In known ATMs a PC or other computer motherboard is used as a control processor for controlling operation of the ATM and controlling communication and interaction with a user. Communication with a user is typically either by display of text on a display screen or by generation of audible signals.
The audible signals include beeps in response to keystrokes by a user, insertion or withdrawal of a card or other token, insertion or withdrawal of money, or an error.
The audible signals may also include recorded or computer-generated speech, which may be transmitted via loudspeakers or via an audio socket and user headphones. Such recorded or computer-generated speech may be used, for instance, to communicate with a user who has a visual impairment.
The beeps are most efficiently generated using the beep function of the PC or other computer, as application software can easily access and control the beep function via basic operating system commands. For instance, the Windows Win32 application program interface (API) has a Beep function that allows application software to issue a noise on the system beeper on the PC motherboard.
However, the motherboard inside known ATMs is encased in the PC core, which is encased in an outer ATM cabinet. Therefore the system beeper must be amplified if it is to be heard by a user. In known ATMs, special hardware is required to route the System Beeper signal to an amplifier and hence to speakers on the outer case of the ATM. Thus, whilst the use of the beeper signal is computationally efficient, in practice it requires the use of additional hardware if it is to be heard by a user.
Known ATMs also have additional audio functionality, supported on the motherboard, which is used to produce other types of audible signal. The output signal from the audio circuitry is routed to speakers at the front of the ATM. The output signal is amplified within the audio circuitry using standard Windows DirectX APIs.
FIG. 1 provides an overview of a known ATM 2, including various hardware components used in the generation and transmission of audio data signals. The ATM 2 includes a PC processor 4 mounted on a motherboard 6. The PC processor 4 controls operation of the ATM, including control of visual and audio communication with the user.
Other hardware components relating to the generation and control of beep signals are also mounted on the motherboard 6, including a beep generator 8 which is connected in turn to a beeper 10 and, in parallel, via a hard wired connection 11, to a beep signal amplifier 12. The beep signal amplifier 12 is connected to a beeper speaker 14 on the casing of the ATM.
Hardware components relating to the generation and control of other audio data signals are also mounted on the motherboard 6, including an audio chip 16 and amplification and speaker control circuitry 18. The amplification and speaker control circuitry 18 is connected to speakers 20 22. A private volume button 26, a public volume button 27, and a beeper volume control 28 are provided to enable control of volumes by a user.
The ATM includes a display screen 24 for displaying text to a user. The control circuitry for the display screen is not shown, for reasons of clarity.
FIG. 2 is a more detailed diagram of the audio generation and transmission system of the known ATM 2 of FIG. 1. Like reference numerals are used to refer to like components. FIG. 2 shows schematically various software modules and applications that run within the processor 4.
The processor 4 is delimited by the dashed line in FIG. 2. Examples of data flows and communication paths between the software components and modules, and between those software components and modules and the hardware components, are represented schematically by arrows.
The software components and modules run by the processor 4 of the prior art ATM 2 include various applications 30, linked to components relating to the generation of a beep, namely a Win 32 Beep API 34, in communication with a beep driver 36, which is in communication with the beep generator 8. The applications 30 are also linked to software components relating to the generation of other sounds, namely a DirectX module 42 for processing audio data signals such as generated or pre-recorded speech, and are also able to call on various multimedia APIs 44 to generate sound objects that can be used to generate other sounds. The DirectX module 42 is linked to an audio driver stack 46 which is linked in turn to the audio chip 16. The multimedia APIs 44 are operable to generate sound objects and to provide them to the audio driver stack 46. Finally, the applications are also linked to an enhanced audio control system which comprises a CEN XFS sensors and indicators unit (SIU) service provider 48 and a serial device communication driver 50 for the amplification and speaker control circuitry 18. The amplification and control circuitry 18 comprises an enhanced audio logic chip 52, a public amplification module 154 and a private amplification module 56.
In order to provide a more audible beep sound to a user, the prior art ATM 2 requires the addition of the hardwired connection 11 from the output of the beep generator 10, the beep signal amplifier 12, and the additional beeper speaker 14 on the casing of the ATM.